Invited review and topical lectures from the 13th International Congress on Plasma Physics

The 13th International Congress on Plasma Physics (ICPP 2006) was organized, on behalf of the International Advisory Committee of the ICPP series, by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics (BITP) and held in Kiev, Ukraine, 22–26 May 2006. The Congress Program included the topics: fundamental problems of plasma physics; fusion plasmas; plasmas in astrophysics and space physics; plasmas in applications and technologies; complex plasmas.A total of 305 delegates from 30 countries took part in the Congress. The program included 9 invited review lectures, 32 invited topical and 313 contributed papers (60 of which were selected for oral presentation).The Congress Program was the responsibility of the International Program Committee:Anatoly Zagorodny (Chairman) Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ukraine Olha Kocherga (Scientific Secretary) Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, UkraineBoris Breizman The University of Texas at Austin, USAIver Cairns School of Physics, University of Sydney, AustraliaTatiana Davydova Institute for Nuclear Research, UkraineTony Donne FOM-Institute for Plasma Physics, Rijnhuizen, The NetherlandsNikolai S Erokhin Space Research Institute of RAS, RussiaXavier Garbet CEA, FranceValery Godyak OSRAM SYLVANIA, USAKatsumi Ida National Institute for Fusion Science, JapanAlexander Kingsep Russian Research Centre `Kurchatov Institute', RussiaE P Kruglyakov Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, RussiaGregor Morfill Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, GermanyOsamu Motojima National Institute for Fusion Science, JapanJef Ongena ERM-KMS, Brussels and EFDA-JET, UKKonstantyn Shamrai Institute for Nuclear Research, UkraineRaghvendra Singh Institute for Plasma Research, IndiaKonstantyn Stepanov Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, UkraineMasayoshi Tanaka National Institute for Fusion Science, JapanNodar Tsintsadze Physics Institute, GeorgiaThe four-page texts of the contributed papers are presented as a CD, `ICPP 2006. Contributed Papers' which was distributed among the delegates. They are also available at the Congress website http://icpp2006.kiev.ua. A major part of the review and topical lectures is published in this special issue which has been sent to the Congress delegates.The papers were refereed to the usual high standard of the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. The Guest Editors of the special issue are grateful to the Publishers for their cooperation.Recognizing the role of Professor Alexej Sitenko (12 February 1927–11 February 2002) in the initiation and organization of the International (Kiev) Conferences on Plasma Theory which, after having been combined with the International Congresses on Waves and Instabilities in Plasma in 1980, created the series of International Congresses on Plasma Physics, and taking into account the contribution of Professor Sitenko to the progress of plasma theory, the Program Committee decided to open ICPP 2006 with the Sitenko memorial lecture. This memorial lecture is available as supplementary data (PDF) at stacks.iop.org/PPCF/49/i=5A.